Tensions are growing across the UK over fears that pro-Palestine protests will clash with the Remembrance Day parade, wreath laying ceremony and two-minute silence being held in London on Saturday.
The planned demonstration, which expects to bring tens of thousands of people to the capital to oppose Israel's bombardment of Gaza in retaliation to Hamas' October 7 March, has received mounting backlash in recent days.
Yesterday, patriotic protesters and veterans stood guarding the memorial in Whitehall while a pro-Palestinian demonstration - which had been largely peaceful - gathered a short walk away at Trafalgar Square. Dismayed British Royal Legion poppy sellers could only look on after pro-Palestine protesters engaged in a sit-in protest at Charing Cross stationThe image led to condemnation from veterans minister Johnny Mercer who offered to 'rattle a tin' with the charitable trio.
As strains across the country grow, Home Secretary Suella Braverman has called for any pro-Palestine protester that vandalises the Cenotaph to be jailed 'faster than their feet can hit the ground'. The PM warned that there is a 'clear and present risk' that the Cenotaph and other war memorials could be 'desecrated' during marches
READ ALSO: Rishi Sunak slams 'provocative and disrespectful' plans for pro-Palestinian protest in central London on Armistice Day warning that the Cenotaph could be 'desecrated' Advertisement The Met Police has warned it would 'intervene' if protesters shout 'jihad' during any demonstration but stopped short of saying they would be arrested, after previously claiming chanting the word was not an offence.
Controversially, the Home Secretary went as far as to brand the anti-Israel marches through London as a 'hate march'. Thousands of Pro Palestinian supporters perform a sit in in Oxford Circus before marching to Trafalgar Square yesterdayDuring an interview with Sky News yesterday, Ms Braverman declined to say whether the march would be banned but added: 'If anyone were to vandalise the Cenotaph, they must be put into a jail cell faster than their feet can touch the ground.'
He told BBC Breakfast: 'It is a moment where we remember those we lost, and I think for the whole country the Cenotaph is sacred ground and the idea that on a day like Remembrance Day you would have a protest going past it, I don't think that is acceptable. Tom Tugendhat, the security minister and a veteran who served in Afghanistan and Iraq , today called the plan to hold a protest on Armistice Day 'inappropriate'
The group said it would challenge any banning decision in court, insisting once again there was no risk of disruption to the Cenotaph, adding 'this march will be calling for a ceasefire in Gaza'.
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